Hope you're still okay, Hotwine. I have friends outside of San Anton and wonder how they are faring.
IK, I love the German-style potato salad served warm (with bacon pieces).
I watched the Boston Pops last night rather than deal with increased security and heat index of over 100 at Fort Bragg 4th of July celebration last night. On July 3rd we had our Organization Day at Smith Lake with temperature in the 90's and heat index of 113. Glad I wasn't in the volleyball or tug-of-war contests. Just being a spectator left me dehydrated! I tried to dunk my boss (a colonel) in the dunking booth but didn't succeed. One ball hit the edge of the target but was not hard enough or centered enough to complete the job.

Thanks, we're fine. Now 28.5". Stuck my head in the shop and found a family of three 'coons had moved in. They had kind of re-arranged things to suit them, but that's OK. Everybody needs shelter right now.
Wow, where do your friends live? I can give you an idea of conditions in their area. And watch out for that heat & humidity at Bragg, it can be a killer.

Now 29.8", and the rain has finally moved out to the north. No more is forecast until Sunday. Tried to check the cellar, but found a new stream had appeared just this side of it, about 8'-10' wide and 18"-20" deep, moving pretty fast. Will need to wait a day or so for it to run off before crossing. Like a swamp out there.

Gil, you're certainly showing us all how to keep a positive attitude. If I had a new 8 to 10 foot wide stream between my house and my wine cellar, can't say I'd be so cool!

Yesterday, we had a midday dinner over in Waterville, so just had a light leftover supper last night. Popped a bottle of Heron Hill Dry Riesling, and finished it on the front stoop, watching the rain delayed town fireworks. Life is good.

Even after 30" in six days, we're still grateful for every drop. Old springs are now coming back to life, some of which had been quiet for over 40 years. We'll see an explosion of wildlife after this. Wunderbar!Now, if I can just get to the cellar....

Wow, I just read all this. To hear it on the radio is one thing, to see it on TV is another, to have it told by such an optimist is incredible. To the list of health benefits from wine add "a good outlook."

Most folks seem to be taking it in stride. I've been through a few hurricanes, and one typhoon, and you just ride it out as best you can.
Bought some new rubber booties today, so was able to check out the cellar, and it's OK. Found a pool of water on the floor just inside the interior door, where the driving rain had penetrated the weather stripping, but otherwise, was dry as could be. Temp was 59, humidity 66 - I'll take it.

Hardware store owner greeted me like long-lost kin. His shop is above the Helotes Creek, which had become a raging torrent, and most of his customers had stayed away. He was still kind of bug-eyed goosey, and glad to be making any sales at all. A 1929 earthen dam is uphill from him, and if that sucker breaks, he'll be tryin' to tread water for 20 miles. So far, so good.

Gotta post this, for it says a lot about this area:
We've lost at least nine people in this flood.
An 11-year-old boy was swept away while playing near a swollen creek. He was on life-support all week, until declared dead yesterday.
An elderly couple tried to drive home from dinner at a restaurant the evening of 5 July, and apparently got lost on flooded streets. They were found in their upended car on a golf course yesterday, apparently having been swept away at a low-water crossing.
A rancher near Uvalde to the west was using his tractor to help motorists stranded by high water on a county road near his ranch, and was swept off the machine to his death.
Two fellows drowned near Austin, one of whom was a city fireman who decided to go kayaking on a swollen creek.
A man near Utopia got stranded in his car, climbed onto the roof to escape the rising water, and was swept away.
A man from Boerne, NW of San Antonio, has been missing since Monday, which was day 2 of the heavy rain. Boerne had a bit more than our total of 30" for the week.

It's a shame when natural disasters happen and even worse when the human elements are factored into the mix. It's been 100 + days with no measurable precip here but the only casualities are the people dumped by their Coyotes in the desert to fend for themselves. We're finally putting out water stations to alleviate this problem. Keep a stiff upper Mae West there Hotsie ole' pal 'cause it can only get better. WW

WELL!!!! A fine mess you got us into Hotsie-Ollie. I just asked for SOME rain. We just shattered the all-time one day total for rainfall here in the valley.....Over 2" in less than 3 hours. At least the cellar is an integral part of the interior of me housie sos'n I don hafta ford no washes. WW [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]

That's fan-tabulous, WW! We're gettin' another good soakin' this mornin'. Love it! And those springs that I said would come back to life? They have, and the noo-guys to this area are scratchin' their heads and sayin', "Where'd THAT come from?" Heheh.

Sounds like where we used to live in California. When we first got out there we were looking at a map and all over it were little dashed lines with the name Arroyo Seco. Wondered why they would name so many little streams with the same name. Well, come winter we sure found out quickly that Arroyo Seco means dry creek, and with the winter rains they became raging torrents. When they overflowed their banks - what a mess.

This past spring was a cool wet one around Keuka Lake, in the Finger Lakes region. So much so that even after fruit set, my plums and pears could not hold on--they all dropped off from high winds and low temperatures.

Anyway, two weeks ago, when I cam home for my four-day-every-other-week stay, the ground beneath my feet was still wet and the weeds seemed poised to eat our house and barn. This weekend, however, after absolutely no rain for more than two weeks, the weeds have stayed their course, grasses have burned out and everything we grow grabs at our ankles as we pass, begging for a drink. This is one hellava strange climate, which is why grapes love it; those buggers strive in bad soil and even badder weather.

IK, we have been getting Finger Lakes daytime in the 80's and nightime in the 50's--can't beat that weather, except for the lack of rain. Perhaps, if I am not called away, we shall meet the weekend of the 27th; just learned, however, that Kate has designated that her last day at is-wine...

Had another 3" between 0600-1100 this morning, so we're now at 35" since 30 June. Just mopped another nine gal. of water out of the garage, and there's more to go. Birds are singin', 'coons are dancin', we're just havin' a great ol' time! Yee-ha! Glad I had moved some juice from the cellar into the coolers in the house over the weekend, since that little stream has re-appeared this side of the cellar....

Hoo-boy. About 1500 Wednesday, in the midst of another toad-strangler, we had a lightning strike on the transformer atop the utility pole out back. It fried the fuze on the transformer and bunches of cable components, including the tap and filter on the pole, the cable splitter on the side of the house, the cable modem, and the network interface card (NIC card) in the PC. Just now getting back online. Rainfall total now stands at 38 inches since 30 June.

When that lightning bolt hit, I ducked and was scannin' for the sniper....sounded just like a rifle shot. My neighbors watched it travel down our driveway, through the Cyclone gate and across the back yard before jumping up the pole to the transformer, on the other side of the property. That'll send 'em to church on Sunday!